Ismail Elfath (FIFA Referee) Height, Age, Wife, Children, Family, Biography

Some Lesser Known Facts About Ismail Elfath

• Ismail Elfath grew up in Casablanca, Morocco, in a home with an extended family.

• At the age of eight, his mother passed away, and he was then raised by his grandfather and almost sixteen step-siblings who lived in the same house.

• At age of eighteen, Elfath won a Diversity Immigrant Visa in 2001, immigrating to the United States with twenty dollars and very little English.

• He chose to move to Austin, Texas instead of Indianapolis because it was a warmer climate and the University of Texas was known for its excellent reputation.

• He went to the University of Texas at Austin to study mechanical engineering and graduated in 2006.

• After graduation, he spent a short time in the IT corporate sales.

• He then became a US citizen and has remained living in Austin.

• He was introduced into his career as a referee from the amateur soccer level.

• He competed in local leagues here in Austin and often challenged referees on the field, including one league called Austin Lightning.

• Eventually a league organiser offered to let Elfath act as referee and he said yes.

• He played his first game in 2005 when he was a referee in an under-8 game at Town and Country Sports in North Austin.

• He was a student then and played several games each day to make money, up to eight or ten at a time.

• He played in youth games before graduating to high school and then semi-professional Austin Aztex at House Park.

• He was appointed a full-time professional referee in 2009, a fourth official in MLS in 2011 and made his MLS debut as a referee on 19 May 2012.

• Elfath left his sales career behind to take-on full-time officiating duties in 2018, which coincided with his transition into international duty.

• He was the referee for the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup final in Poland that year, where Ukraine beat South Korea 3-1 with assistant referees Corey Parker and Kyle Atkins.

• He was also a referee for the Concacaf Gold Cup in 2019 and the semi-final of the FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar.

• He was one of the three referees at the Tokyo Olympics in July 2021, which included a quarter-final between Japan and New Zealand.

• Later that year, FIFA named him as one of the two Concacaf referees to the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.

• There were about 350 referees, who were shortlisted by FIFA in 2022 for the World Cup in Qatar.

• Elfath was the sole American to be picked, and the eighth American to referee a World Cup.

• He made his tournament debut in the group stage clash between Portugal and Ghana, giving a penalty kick in the 63rd minute, which Cristiano Ronaldo converted, to put the Portuguese ahead 3-2.

• The coach of Ghana’s team openly questioned the decision later.

• Elfath was then handed the round of 16 between Japan and Croatia, where Croatia emerged victorious on penalties.

• He was the fourth official in World Cup finals for Argentina and France, and for the first time an all-American team worked a World Cup final.

• Argentina won the game on penalty kicks, while Messi had two goals in the first 45 minutes.

• Messi converted the only penalty for Inter Miami in the Leagues Cup 2023 final, which they defeated on penalties against Nashville SC.

• He was also sidelined for over a year in 2024 after he injured his knee while officiating the Copa América tournament for Concacaf.

• He passed the FIFA fitness test, which involves forty 75 metre sprints with eighteen seconds of rest in between, and returned to officiating in 2025.

• He was then called up by FIFA to officiate the 2025 Intercontinental Cup final, which was to be played between PSG and Flamengo.

• FIFA trimmed down its list of North American World Cup candidate referees in December 2025 and Elfath was still left on the list.

• He then went to a final selection in January 2026 in Rio de Janeiro to have his knee checked and his heart rate and breathing monitored by the medical team and sports scientists during simulated match conditions.

• Later, FIFA named him to be the referee of the England vs. Argentina World Cup 2026 semifinal, the first American referee to be appointed to a World Cup semifinal.

• He issued four yellow cards in the game and Argentina went on to reach the final.

• Some people claimed he is Lionel Messi‘s lucky charm as the Argentinian superstar had won all 4 previous matches officiated by Elfath.